Man Utd striker Danny Welbeck putting the extra hours in

DAVID MOYES has revealed he ordered Danny Welbeck to stay behind after training to work on his finishing.

Utd boss David Moyes is pleased with Danny Welbeck's progression on and off the pitch [GETTY]

Moyes believes England international Welbeck does not get enough goals for a striker of his all-round ability.

But he was delighted to see the extra graft starting to pay dividends when he filled the void left by the injured Robin van Persie by scoring twice at Aston Villa on Sunday.

Welbeck’s double at Villa Park took his club tally to five – three more than he managed in the whole of last season.

And, significantly, four of the five have been the sort of close-range ‘poacher’ strikes which some United fans believed Welbeck was not capable of scoring.

Now Moyes hopes Welbeck’s “sharp and incisive” display will give him the confidence to carry on scoring on a far more consistent basis than he has so far in his career, especially with Van Persie out for the hectic Christmas and new year period.

Ahead of tonight’s Capital One Cup quarter-final at Stoke, Moyes said: “We had a word with Danny about a month ago and we said he needs to be the last off the training field.

“Wayne Rooney is out there practising his finishing each day, whether it’s taking free-kicks, shooting from tight angles or bending them in. Whatever it may be, Wayne’s practising.

“I said, ‘Danny, you need to be out there every day finishing, even if it’s 15 minutes at the end’. Was I surprised I had to tell him? A little bit, yes. I think the young boys here are educated to keep improving but sometimes you can, without knowing, slip away from that.

“So we just said, every day, give yourself an extra 10 or 15 minutes at the end of every session and practise all different types of finishing – inside the box, outside the box, heading – and let’s see if we can get more goals from you.

“All-round, Danny has got an awful lot of attributes and he just has to say, ‘Hey, come on, I’m going to have to take this on to another level’. We’re trying to get him to do that.”

Moyes believes Welbeck has all the attributes to become one of the league's top strikers [GETTY]

If you want to be a striker in the Premier League and especially at a club like Manchester United, you have to be a goalscorer

David Moyes

Moyes is aware of Welbeck’s unselfish work-rate for the team and the fact he has often been played wide but insists, as a striker, he has to be judged on his goals output.

“What gets you a game as a striker? Goals. Whether you score them inside the box or outside the box, from distance or from tap-ins, if you want to be a striker in the Premier League and especially at a club like Manchester United, you have to be a goalscorer.

“There will be lots of strikers who offer other parts and Danny does do that. He is a great worker for the team, but without Robin he stood up and took it on.

“He looked sharp and incisive, scored two and in truth probably should have had a hat-trick on the day.

“We challenged them a bit on Sunday, told them to stand up a bit here, and Danny rose to the challenge and took the bait. I think he said, ‘I’ll show you’ and that was good for him and good for the team. The question has always been thrown at him: ‘Does he score enough goals?’ But he’s got a few for us now this season.

“Danny is one of United’s own boys. They brought him up through the academy. He is really important to this club and he is important to me. Hopefully we will get a level of performance that keeps getting him goals.”

With Van Persie, Michael Carrick and Marouane Fellaini all still sidelined, Moyes will not make wholesale changes with United only one match away from their first semi-final under his management.